TERRY JONES, QMI Agency

They’re staying home. Everybody else from Canada’s men’s Olympic gold medal team has confirmed their plans to be part of it.

Only one member of the women’s gold medal winning club, Catherine Ward, currently in China on a college studies trip, won’t be able to make it.

The phenomenal response for the two-day event which includes Monday’s nationally televised ‘Canada Celebrates’ show, the ‘Host of Heroes’ festival at Commonwealth Stadium was announced at City Hall Thursday.

Sixty-one of of the 64 Olympic and world champions have confirmed their attendance as well as several Olympic gold medal winners from other sports.

But no Pronger.

And no Brodeur.

That Pronger isn’t coming ought not shock anybody. Since he departed after leading the Edmonton Oilers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final in 2005, the first domino to fall in the crash which dropped the team to 30th place and resulted in the Oilers having the first pick in the draft Friday, he’s been considered a Grade A turkey in Edmonton.

Booed every time he’s touched the puck here, it might have been too much to ask fans to cheer him as an Olympic champion just one more time.

Doesn’t seem to be a problem for Dany Heatley, though.

A summer after snubbing Edmonton to go to San Jose, a boo here or there isn’t going to keep him away.

But the normally classy Brodeur?

Speculation is that he still has his nose out of joint about head coach Mike Babcock replacing him with Roberto Luongo to be the national netminder and play in the gold medal game.

Babcock says whatever their reasons, it’s as close to perfect attendance as anyone could have expected.

And he’s pumped that everybody else, including his entire coaching staff and GM Steve Yzerman are coming.

“You want it to be as close to 100% as possible because I believe any team that wins something like this together has a bond forever. You get to be Olympians for the rest of your lives and defending Olympic gold medal champions for the next four years,” said the head coach via telephone.

“I’m thrilled with all the guys who are coming.

“When you win the hockey gold medal at the Olympics you don’t want to take your equipment off. It’s the last event. When you walk out and see your family, it ends. I was in Colorado the next night. I think you need this time together as a team.

“I know the three guys who won the Stanley Cup are coming and they been going at it hard for a long run. I think that’s fantastic,” he said.

No word if Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are bringing the Stanley Cup, though.

Nobody is more excited than Olympic gold medal-winning goalie Shannon Szabados of Edmonton, who has a shorter distance to travel than anyone.

“I love it. To drive from my home to Commonwealth Stadium and then out to River Cree to be part of something like this is going to be an amazing experience,” she said at the press conference.

Szabados was showing off the Olympic rings she had tattooed on her leg after winning the gold medal.

“It’s the first time we’ll be back together. And it will be great to be part of this with the men’s team. We haven’t really been together with them since a dinner at the Olympic camp in Calgary back in September. Well, there were some pretty good doubles games of ping pong at the athletes village. Meaghan Mikkelson and Sidney Crosby were pretty good partners,” she said of the St. Albert defenseman and Canada’s golden goal getter.

“The guys didn’t get to come over to the closing ceremonies. Scott Niedermayer was able to come but he was the only one,” she said of the captain who announced his retirement this week.

Babcock says the best part, he thinks, is going to be the lead-off event at Commonwealth Stadium that precedes a Monday night gala at the River Cree Marriott and the golf tournament Tuesday split between the Petroleum Club and Blackhawk golf courses.

“I’m ecstatic with the Commonwealth Stadium component. I hope everyone gets out and embraces it. It could be one of the greatest parts of all of this if there’s a big crowd there to celebrate it all. I’m bringing my family. I can’t wait to have the team back together and to enjoy that time together again.”